When: Sunday, May 19
Where: We’ll meet at the Matanuska River Park (pavilion area) at 2pm
Class cost:
Course fees are $55 per person.
Adventure Club members receive a 10% discount.
Do you have scholarships? Yes! We offer community scholarships. Learn more and apply here.
What's included: All workshop materials and supplies
Is registration required? Yes. In order to maintain our small group size (max 10 participants) we ask that you register in advance.
About the class: Our boreal forest contains many edible and medicinal plants. Did you know that willows contain salicin, nature's aspirin? While Devil's Club may not be a hiker's friend, it has long been valued as medicine.
While not intended as medical advice, this class concentrates on plant identification, methods and ethics of foraging, and provides a hands-on demonstration of making devil's club salve.
All workshop material is provided in the course fees.
Please note that while we will be making things using items from the boreal forest, the course does not go into details about harvesting plants other than devil’s club. We offer foraging classes during the summer season, so be sure to join our mailing list for plant identification & foraging classes.
What to expect: This is a 2-part class.
Part 1: Short spring walk and foraging lesson: We will walk the trail for about an hour, learning to distinguish plants commonly found during Alaska spring.
Part 2: Salve-making lesson: Following our walk we will head to a river park pavilion a where we will process pre-harvested devil's club into salve. Each participant will take home a 2-oz container of salve, as well as knowledge and recipes for further explorations.
Total workshop time is approximately 2 hours. This course is best suited for adult learners.
About Ute: Ute Riesenkönig Olsson received a Master of Forestry from Duke University and a Master of Science in Ecological Studies from Colorado State University. She taught natural history to all ages at the Eagle River Nature Center for two decades before her retirement. Ute has a special interest in ethnobotany -- how humans have traditionally used plants in Alaska. Follow her on Instagram at Borealkraut.
A note on flexibility: The nature of adventuring outside requires some flexibility. We do our best to follow the itinerary as outlined, but we may need to shift plans for a variety of reasons. Safety is our priority and we use our best judgment when making trip adjustments.
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What is the Revel Adventure Club? The Revel Adventure Club is the community arm of Revel Treks and Tours. Anyone is able to attend Revel community events. Adventure Club members help support Revel’s mission of offering community, education, and connection to place for visitor and locals alike. Members receive the following benefits:
Free to attend one or both of our standard monthly events (Ladies Night Outdoors and 50ish and over hikes). Fee to attend $12 for non-members
Enjoy priority registration for pop-up educational events and longer adventures like our Ski the Sven.
Join quarterly community hikes
Participate in our partnership events
Access exclusive "members-only" brainstorming sessions to plan your adventure dreams